Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder
by VainlyInsane
Summary: Tracey Davis is a Nobody Extraordinaire, ignored by the whole school. As the Yule Ball is announced, a Bossy-Bushy-Know-It-All puts none other than the Boy-Who-Lived in her path. Merlin, help. Rated T for language and questionable teenagers
1. Chapter 1

**Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder**

**Chapter One: Awkward Chance**

Tracey Davis sat in the library with a huff. Or maybe it was a sigh, she wasn't very sure. The bloody Tri-Wizard tournament was in full swing, the Yule Ball was coming up, and her Housemates had made sure she didn't have a date.

It wasn't that she wasn't good looking, she wasn't vain, but she could acknowledge she wasn't bad looking. She had pale, but healthy skin tone, bright brown eyes, and startlingly brown hair. She didn't like how short she was, but that wasn't the issue; it was her blood.

Being a "lowly Half-Blood", she was supposed to be honored if one of her "superior Pure-Blood" Housemates asked her to the Ball.

Essentially, she was the House back-up.

Daphne had been no help, but that wasn't a surprise.

Before Hogwarts, both of them were thick as thieves, almost sisters. Come First Year, she began spending more time with the Slytherin Elite, as Malfoy called his group.

Which meant, as a Half-Blood, she was out on her own on principle.

Daphne spent most of the year telling her that they would hang out later, or the next day, or some other thing to put off being around her. In the end, hanging out never came.

Tracey asked Daphne to stop making excuses, and Daphne began ignoring her.

Second and Third years hadn't been much better. Other than oddly outlandish rumors about Potter and his weird revelation as a Parselmouth, she didn't put much stock in them.

Could anyone _blame_ her? If half of the things about Potter were true, she would ask Longbottom to be her date for the Ball.

According to the oh, so reliable rumor mill, the boy had killed their First Year Defense Professor, and good riddance. Then in Second Year, he had slain a fully grown Basilisk with a sword. Last year, he apparently _saved_ the serial killer after him by fending off a hundred Dementors with a single spell that most adult magicals never mastered.

And she had seen Potter. She met him back in their second year, formally, anyways. Thanks to her Housemates' stupid issue with her blood, she partnered enough with him ovet the years to know he wasn't awful at his work, but definitely nothing special. As much as she detested the boy, Malfoy did significantly better on almost every subject.

She sighed again. It was a sigh the first time too, she decided.

She didn't know if she was lonely or bored. Probably some uncomfortable combination of the two.

But that had been her life for a few years now. She should probably be prepared to be the reluctant wife of some minor Pure-Blood idiot who openly hates her for her blood.

She sighed again.

"You know, you do that an awful lot for someone without any work in front of her." A voice came from her side.

Tracey jumped and turned to see Hermione Granger looking at her with an amused smile.

"What's it to you, Granger?" She asked suspiciously.

She didn't want to be suspicious, but she knew Snakes and Lions mixed about as well as Longbottom and Potions Class.

"You just seem bothered by something, no need to be defensive, Davis." Granger said with a frown.

"Granger, we worked on a potion together once in third year. We're not even acquaintances, barely even classmates." Tracey drawled in what she dubbed the Slytherin voice. "I'm not being defensive, I think I'm right to be suspicious.

Granger rolled her eyes and took a seat at her table.

"Look, if you're frustrated about this "looking for a date" thing, I know Ron and Harry are still looking for a date." Granger said, smiling kindly.

Tracey stared at her like she had grown an extra head. How had she known? And to go with who?

Her, Tracey Davis, the lowest Slytherin on the totem pole, sink lower by going with a Gryffindork? And not just _any_ Gryffindork, the Weasel or Harry-Bloody-Potter?

"Lowest on the totem pole?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tracey had the decency to blush.

"I err… didn't realize I said that out loud." She said, looking down at the table.

"It's okay, I'm just not sure how you would qualify as the lowest head on that particular totem pole." Hermione said, sounding amused.

"How do you figure? I'm the only Half-Blood in our year for Slytherin." Tracey said as if that explained everything. And for her, it did.

"I get that Slytherins and some Ravenclaws tend to buy into the whole Blood Purity nonsense, but you cannot tell me that dumb old idea actually puts you below_ Crabbe and Goyle_." Hermione said with distaste.

Tracey smiled sadly and put her head down on the table.

"They're Pure-Bloods, thick as they may be." Tracey said.

"Then it's settled, I'll ask Harry to be your date." The bushy haired girl said, getting up.

"It won't help, but okay." Tracey said absently.

As Hermione left, she thought about what the other girl had said. She _was_ lower than Crabbe and Goyle, and they constantly used each other's wands because they couldn't remember which belonged to who! And-

What?

_Hold on_, Tracey thought, as an electric shock made her sit immediately upright.

Granger said _**what **_about a date?

Oh no.

Oh, no, no, no, _**NO.**_

What had she done?! Why in the blood-soaked hell was she not paying attention?

Granger was gonna set her up with _Potter _to be her date. She was so screwed. Harry Potter. He wasn't a bad looking guy by any means. Objectively speaking, of course.

But he was a Gryffindor. And not just any idiotic Gryffindor, the Golden Lion himself, Harry The-Bloody-Boy-Who-Lived Potter. The most hated person by all seven current years of Slytherin House, and most of the prior ones too. The person her Head of House actually _bullied_ on par with Longbottom.

She was dead.

Simple as that.

Her House would ostracize her more, if that was possible, her Head of House would hang her out to dry. She probably wouldn't even be able to stay in the dorm without taking an obscene amount of curses and hexes, and her dormmates would probably get points from Snape for doing so.

As her thoughts turned more and more morbid, one in particular about her being paraded through the Slytherin Common Room mounted on a pike with her throat slit, she wandered the halls of Hogwarts, hoping she would run into Granger and get her to call the whole thing off.

She turned a corner and hit something, falling down and looking surprised. At first, she assumed she hit one of the many invisible walls of Hogwarts, because of course this place would have invisible walls.

No, her surprise came from the pair of worn trainers sticking out from what she realized was an invisibility cloak.

"Who are you?" Tracey demanded, scrambling to her feet.

"Dammit, Davis, do you just run through every corner you take?" The disembodied voice of a familiar boy asked.

"I'm sorry, I'll keep an eye out for invisible people wandering the halls." She said dryly.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for not being able to see absentminded girls running from around the corner." Potter said flatly, lifting the cloak off his face.

Tracey would have made a comment about the fact that he was a floating head, but was too busy retorting to the boy in front of her.

"Sure, because wandering around the castle invisible is obviously not something unusual." Tracey said, glaring a bit now.

Potter sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Look, I've been trying to find you for almost an hour now, and…" Potter began.

Tracey stopped paying attention almost immediately after he said that.

An hour? Granger probably told the whole school that she agreed to be his date!

"Errr… no, just… me and Ron, really." Harry said, looking at the girl with a quirked eyebrow.

"That's bad enough!" She snapped, glowering at the boy who huffed. How dare he listen to her voiced thoughts?

"Look, I was trying to find you because I thought Hermione was being absolutely daft and I'm sure neither of us want to go to some stuffy ball together." Harry said irritably, not really wanting to deal with the grumpy girl.

This was her chance, she could agree and be free of this damnable situation.

If she was level-headed and thinking straight, she could simply say;

"Right, good show, Potter. Let's pretend this never happened."

Unfortunately, she was more than a little upset with this boy. It wasn't entirely his fault, he was just the invisible cherry on top of the awful day she had.

"Oh, so after all that effort your friend puts into helping you, you're going to just bail on me, after I'm risking losing what little face I have going on a highly public date with you? Some chivalrous Lion you turned out to be." She sneered, crossing her arms.

Potter did a double-take and looked at her incredulously.

"I- what?" He said dumbly.

"From what it seems to look like I'm not worth the time of the big, famous Boy-Who-Lived, I'm sure you have some big blonde bimbo you'd rather wear as eye candy over some Slytherin nobody." She said, looking away with a sniff worthy of Pansy Parkinson.

Internally, she was screaming at herself.

Why the hell was she dragging this out? He felt bad, and she could have gotten out of it, instead, she was guilt tripping him.

"What are you on about? What bimbo? You're not a nobody and I wouldn't mind going with you!" Harry blurted out, blushing at his own words. He paused for a moment as Tracey looked him over.

"I err… just didn't think you'd wanna be seen with me. I'm a Gryffindor and you lot don't tend to like us very much." He finished lamely.

"Well, too bad. This is happening." She said, her stomach dropping.

_Dammit, Davis, get yourself together!_ She yelled at herself mentally.

"Okay." Harry said, looking very embarrassed.

_Good, he deserves this for putting me through this._ She thought, ignoring the part of her mind that reminded her this was Granger's doing.

"I guess I'll see you for the dance?" Harry asked, trying very hard to avoid eye contact.

Merlin, she was already digging this hole, why stop now?

"Potter, at no time in the four years I've known you to be in Hogwarts have you shown any actual grace, and no, Quidditch doesn't count. I need to make sure you understand basic manners and at the very least know how to dance." Tracey said, crossing her arms. "I wouldn't wanna look foolish in front of the school.

Potter went from grimacing at the thought of manners and dancing, to looking quite ill at remembering he had to dance in front of everyone.

"Merlin, you're too easy to goad, Potter." Tracey said, smirking.

Harry sighed, smiling hopefully. Was she letting him off the hook? Then maybe he could ask-

"It's just escorted Third Years and above, the entirety of the Drumstrang and Beauxbatons people, several Ministry members, the whole of the Hogwarts teachers…" she said, trailing off, her smirk growing to a full Cheshire grin at the growing panic the boy in front of her showed.

"You didn't have to make it worse…" Harry said with a huff, still looking quite green.

"You gotta admit, it was a bit funny." Tracey said, still grinning.

Harry grunted.

"Not to me." He said, sounds cross, but his lips were slightly turned up.

See, he wasn't so bad like that. Kind of… cute. Ugh.

Harry didn't say anything, but his widened eyes and bright blush informed Tracey she spoke out loud.

Again.

Whoops?

Hole, prepare to be dug. Digged?

"So, shall we seal this unpleasant agreement with a kiss?" Tracey teased.

She was really hoping it was a tease.

Her unwanted isolation meant she didn't really have too much experience dealing with boys. According to Millicent, the nicest person to her, her father didn't count, and she knew that.

She wasn't _that_ clueless.

Kind of.

A lot of what she had to go on was mostly bluster from the Slytherin boys and brags from the girls.

She knew Potter wouldn't kiss her. He hadn't kissed anyone, otherwise the rumor mill would have lost its mind.

Harry was still visibly gaping at her.

"K-kiss you?" He squeaked, apparently unaware of how high his voice had gone.

"Oh, I forgot." She sighed, her grin growing again. "You've never kissed anyone."

Harry burned brighter red, his face on par with the brilliant Weasley hair all of those people had.

Even their mother. Weird.

"You don't know that!" He said, sounding mortified.

"Potter, as much as you shy away from it, the whole world knows your yearly deeds. You think a kiss would go unnoticed?" She smiled.

Potter went from looking embarrassed to looking rather… defeated.

Well. That went from funny to sad, very quick.

Harry glared at her weakly.

"What kind of date are you trying to be anyways?" He asked, sounding… hurt?

"Wh-what?" She asked, confused by the question.

He wasn't actually serious, was he? This was a joke, surely he didn't think she was serious about her being his date?

But the look in his eyes let her know he did.

"I-I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"It's like none of you slimy snakes ever even _think _before you just spit your venom, you're all just the worst!" He said angrily.

Potter kept yelling at her, talking about how awful Slytherins were and how they all just toyed with people. For such a skinny guy, he was very long winded.

She didn't know when it happened, but at some point during his rant, the tears began falling from her eyes. Hadn't she been teasing him about a kiss almost literally a minute ago? What happened?

"Shut up!" She screamed, her eyes squeezed shut.

Harry stopped mid sentence and realized the brown haired girl in front of him was crying. He wasn't good with crying girls.

"Dav- Tracey, I'm sorry. I didn't-" Potter tried.

"No, you didn't." She said, choking back a sob. "When the hell have you ever seen me join in on picking on you or your favorite groupies? Hell, when have you ever even seen me? I'm surprised you even know my name. Hell, I'm sure the only reason you even know my name is because Granger probably described "which slimy snake" I was."

Potter was silent, confirming what she thought.

"I'm the stupid, background Slytherin in the Common Room, I'm practically invisible outside of it. Even to someone who is literally invisible, I am invisible. I could disappear completely and only my family would notice my absence." She said quietly.

She was used to being ignored, not yelled at. She genuinely didn't realize how little she could actually take.

"I get what that's like." Harry said quietly. Tracey gave him a teary glare.

"No, Potter, you don't. I get it. You were raised by shitty muggles who don't like you, but if you disappeared for a whole day, your entire House would be panicking. Most of the staff would be raising the alarm, looking for you. You think Granger or Weasley would be the only ones missing you? Merlin's saggy balls, Potter, half of the bloody school looks up to you." She ranted, growing quieter and quieter.

"I wasn't told the password for a week and even Professor Snape didn't realize I was missing…" she said quietly.

Without another word, she turned and walked away. She didn't know why she said any of that. Potter didn't care. Hell, no one cared.

"Davis, wait!" Potter called as she began picking up speed.

No, no way in hell was she becoming his good deed for the day.

A hand on her shoulder made her spin around, she saw a shock of brilliant green eyes before a pair of soft lips awkwardly pressed against hers.

Her arms were spread out at her side, her eyes wide. This was her first kiss! And it wasn't with one of the creepier Slytherins!

Okay, this was a win, as wet and… sloppy as it was.

Potter eventually backed off, looking very embarrassed. Tracey wanted to slap him for kissing her unawares, but at the same time, him trying to prove to _her_ that he wouldn't mind was sweet.

Damn. If that's what she thought was sweet, she really needed to find friends.

Potter was eyeing her funny and she realized she had an arm out, hand ready to smack the boy.

He grimaced.

"That bad?"

Tracey slowly moved her hand to his cheek softly, not breaking eye contact, her face still surprised.

"Yes, yes it was." She said quietly.

The boy looked noticeably uncomfortable, but the shorter girl leaned up and kissed him again, in a much less sloppy fashion, he admitted.

"But, practice makes perfect." She finished, not entirely sure why she kissed him.

Harry stared at her, shocked and unsure of what to do next. The girl looked at him, fidgeting and looked behind him, pointing.

"Look, Malfoy and Crabbe are making out!" She said, looking behind the boy.

Potter raised an eyebrow, not really falling for her play. The girl fidgeted a moment more before she began running away.

"See you soon, Harry!" She cried hurriedly as she rounded the next corner, leaving a very confused boy staring after her.

"What have you gotten me into, 'Mione?" He asked himself, draping his invisibility cloak over himself and disappearing into the hall.

_**TDatBW**_

"Blimey, Hermione," Ron said with a frown, "I knew it would be work finding Harry a date he'd be comfortable with, but a _snake_?"

"Ronald, behave yourself." Hermione said, frowning at the Transfiguration homework she wasn't looking up from.

The Gryffindor Common Room was surprisingly busy for the early afternoon, but her homework would not be denied.

"But-" He tried.

Hermione slammed her book shut with a loud smack, glaring at the boy.

"Ron, Tracey is a quiet girl, and she's _nice_! Remember what Harry told us about the girl who helped him out back in second year while I was… not here?" Hermione asked, biting her lip.

Ron scrunched his brow up thinking.

"I thought he said she was a 'Puff."

"Honestly, Ronald, I'm surprised you even remember when to eat from how forgetful you are." Hermione admonished, opening her book back to where she had been.

"That's not true! I remember things plenty!" Ron argued, smirking at his friend's upturned lip ends.

"Ron, you grabbed extra bacon strips at breakfast this morning because you couldn't remember if you had any." Hermione said, looking at the red head who shrugged her comment off.

"You can't blame me for being sleepy and not noticing things!" Ron countered, grinning.

"You had a strip hanging out of your mouth, Ron!" Hermione cried.

Ron had the decency to look abashed now.

"Well, they're good, too bad." Ron said.

Before Hermione could respond, Harry came in, looking very distracted, his eyes glazed.

Ron looked at his friend and noticed his far away look, and the way he was running a finger around his lips.

"Bloody hell, she kissed you?" Ron blurted out, looking surprised.

Harry looked alarmed and the people around the Common Room stopped to look at the exchange.

Ron wasn't exactly quiet, so a few people had been inching closer to hear about Harry Potter's mystery date, but a kiss? Oh, this was much better.

"I- shut up!" Harry said, looking around, painfully embarrassed before running up to his dormitory.

Hermione wasted no time, gathering her materials, closing her books, and smacking Ron upside the head all in one fluid motion. She quickly followed up after her friend, Ron trailing closely as the Common Room descended into chaos.

It didn't take them very long to find Harry hiding under his bed after trying to make it seem like he was in the bed. After a bit of coaxing, Harry was sitting on his bed, looking at his friends, one in particular.

"Sorry mate, didn't mean to call you out like that." Ron said sheepishly, acknowledging the glare from his green-eyed friend with an apology.

"How bad?" Harry asked, looking between his friends.

Hermione bit her lip and looked at Ron, who was awkwardly rubbing his head.

"Errr… it seems Lavender and Parvati left the Common Room before we got up." Ron said.

Harry groaned and fell back onto his bed. The girls were notoriously gossipy.

"Was she right?" Harry asked, his eyes squeezed shut.

"About what?" Hermione questioned.

"That the rumor mill is going to lose its mind over this kiss?" Harry asked, sounding exasperated.

"So there was a kiss?" Ron asked, amused.

A pillow smacked his face a mere moment later.

"Unfortunately," Hermione said, looking at Ron with a frown, "I think she was right. You _are _a Champion for the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the Boy-Who-Lived, and all of those annoying titles you don't like."

"Merlin, I didn't even want to be in this tournament, much less go to some stuffy dance." Harry sighed, sitting up.

"I know, mate. On the bright side, you found a date." Ron said, sounding helpful.

"You mean Hermione went out of her way to set me up with someone without consulting me." Harry said, his glare now directed at Hermione, who huffed.

"Honestly, Harry, would you _not_ have waited until the last second to ask someone? Besides, this way, you can match your outfits and practice dancing. After all, you're more likely to get the steps right if you go with the person you practiced with." Hermione said, defending herself.

Harry looked at her like she had been speaking in tongues.

"Matching what, practice _what_?" He managed.

"Mate, mortifying as it is, she's right." Ron snickered as he got up.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, seeing Ron leaving the room.

"Mate, 'Mione might've set you up, but she already has a date, I can't be the only going stag, now can I?" Ron said with a grin as he walked out.

Harry stared incredulously at the now empty doorway before turning to Hermione who seemed surprised as well.

"He handled that… well." Hermione said, looking at Harry like their friend had lost his mind. "He never even bothered to try and find out who I was going with."

"Yeah, surprisingly well." Harry said, shaking his head.

This whole day had been absolutely mad, and Ron being entirely okay with him being the last to get a date, not barking up the Hermione tree to find out who she was going with, not caring that Harry was taking a Slytherin…

Damn, he really needed to have a row with Ron more often.

_**TDatBW**_

Ron Weasley was having a good week.

A while ago, his anxiety had been driving his family insane and who could blame him?

What, with his best mate facing a bloody _dragon_, never mind making up after being an absolute berk the whole time between the Goblet of Fire spitting up his name and actually facing the damned thing? Are you mental?

That was, until Fred and George had had enough.

They had made him some baked goods, which immediately made him suspicious, but they assured him they were made with some kind of relaxation herb they got from Neville.

After Neville confirmed he obtained a plant for them, he agreed to try the goods. Neville had tried to say something, but the twins made surprisingly good desserts, so a lot of it fell on deaf ears. They had muffins and brownies, and they tasted a bit weird, but he had to admit, after a while, he was definitely calm.

His anxiety was gone, his nerves about not being as good as others were gone, and he felt some odd confidence.

Damn.

He would need to get some of whatever this was from Neville more often!

He walked around, a spring in his step he hadn't been familiar with. He knew he had to find a date, and he knew he had ghastly dress robes he and his date would have to find time to fix.

So he needed to find someone who wouldn't mind being seen with him (and come on, had you _seen _him?) and someone who was creative.

That wouldn't be too hard.

He did know that a lot of people were grossed out by his table manners, but despite popular belief, he did know restraint. Now, other than his family and close friends, who else knew that?

He saw a familiar face, and that was all he needed.

He skipped over to the blonde girl, who smiled in a friendly manner.

"Hey, Hannah, would you wanna be my date for the ball?" Ron asked, giving a smile that would have made Gilderoy Lockhart swoon.

_**TDatBW**_

Dinner that night was a fiasco, for lack of a better word.

Hermione was watching the usual chaos of the Great Hall replaced with whatever the hell was going on.

Yes, she cursed. Moving along.

Ron was at the Hufflepuff table, taking animatedly with a blonde girl he had apparently asked out in the fifteen minutes he was gone from the Common Room. Hannah Abbott, unless she was mistaken. That was oddly out of character. When did Ron even get to know her well enough for her to agree?

Tracey was sitting in the middle of the Slytherin girls, which never happened. They didn't outright avoid her, but they never included her either. She looked somewhere between surprised and annoyed.

The girls were casting suspicious looks around and whispering and pointing, it was all very conspicuous.

Draco Malfoy was sitting across from the Bulgarian Quidditch star, Viktor Krum, who happened to be _her_ date.

She was honestly both surprised and smug that he had gone out of his way to ask her out. It made her feel pretty, and that was nice when the two thick-headed boys she spent her time with never said anything.

Ginny, Ron's little sister and the youngest Weasley, was staring at her food looking crestfallen.

Hermione knew that the girl had harbored a crush for Harry for a very long time, and hearing about his very public kissing was probably really hard on her. She didn't know how she felt about that, but if it helped overcome hero worship, well...

Speaking of Harry, the boy had already left the Great Hall. It was quite a spectacle.

He had come in, sat down, and Hermione could _feel_ air tense around him from the sheer amount of stares and not-so-hushed whispers.

It was very odd, some of the rumors claimed she was Harry's date (thank you, Skeeter.) others had made much bolder claims, including one of him bringing a whole harem of girls from all Houses, Slytherin included.

The Slytherin girls' vehement denial had only fueled that particular fire, ironically.

Then, there was the voice of Luna Lovegood, who despite her odd reputation, swore that Harry was taking a singular Slytherin to the ball.

Of course, her claim had immediately been disregarded because it came from Luna, who was essentially the school nut job, which was saying something.

Oddly enough, which was the norm around the girl, she was also the only one who was right.

Where was she again?

Right, Harry running out.

After he had settled in to eat, it began with Dennis and Colin Creevey, the Gryffindor fanboys immediately began asking about his love life.

Shortly after, several people from Hogwarts and otherwise began closing in to see what he would say.

There was a lot of sputtering, a sad amount of stuttering, and then he quite literally ran as he got up.

She really hoped Tracey could help.

Either that, or she would be as bad as he was.

_**. . . . .**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder**_

**Chapter 2: Merlin, Why?**

By now, everyone and their mothers had heard that Harry Potter had both a date to the Yule Ball _and_ a first kiss.

Literally everyone, it was in the newspaper.

And Davis had only agreed to be his date like two _hours _ago.

Hours!

Okay, it had been yesterday, but still. Same principle.

Honestly, it was as though people didn't have anything better to do with their lives!

But an hour in the Slytherin Common Room, and Tracey was just done with people.

Her own Yearmates had actually brought her into their group to discuss this. At least the girls had. The boys were too busy sneering at the news like they were trying to one up their disdain for _Potter_ (said in that annoying "I'm better than you, I have money!" drawl they all favored).

The girls, well, they were worse. They were gossiping. With her! Why?

"Trace?" Daphne asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Wait. You're talking to me?" Tracey asked, wondering if there had been a second person named Tracey in their House.

"Of course, you, Davis. Who else _would_ she be talking to?" Pansy asked, her pug-like nose upturned.

"Well, this is the most any of you have spoken to me in the _four_ _years_ we've been here, I'm sorry for not noticing." Tracey huffed.

All the girls looked unapologetic as they rolled their eyes.

"Merlin, you're being dramatic, Davis." Millicent Bullstrode said.

"She's right. We're just trying to understand _why_ the whole school seems to think Potter is taking one of us to the Ball." Daphne said.

"Please, I've heard everything all of you have said about him for years." Tracey said, not believing it. "Literally, all of you have mentioned how nice his ass is, or how dreamy that look in his eyes-"

"Well, duh. He's dreamy, but in a broom cupboard tryst kind of way. I wouldn't actually want to be seen with him." Pansy said with a shrug.

"But what about Draco?" Tracey asked, more confused.

She knew she wasn't in the loop, but if Draco and Pansy had split, she knew she would have heard something by now.

"He's a nice boyfriend, plenty handsome, but Potter is like a forbidden toy. It's… interesting." Pansy said with a gleam in her eye that made Tracey decidedly uncomfortable.

"So, if you had the chance to pull him into a cupboard and snog his brains out, you would?" Tracey asked, trying to confirm she was understanding her Housemates.

"You say that like I'd stop at snogging." Daphne said with a surprisingly lecherous smile.

Tracey felt an uncomfortable pit in her stomach, but she was honestly not sure why. It was just Potter, she didn't even wanna go to the dance with him, why did she even care if her Housemates wanted to strip her date and… dirty him up?

Sure, she got to him first and had a very awkward first kiss, but still.

No real connection, so definitely not jealous of other girls openly claiming they wanted his-

"Merlin, Davis, what has you so spacey?" Lily Moon asked, the girls staring at Tracey with amused looks.

"Probably what _she_ would do to Potter." Pansy snickered, revelling in Tracey's obvious discomfort.

"Guys, relax. We all know she doesn't have any experience with boys, she probably wouldn't even know where to begin." Daphne said, inspecting her nails.

Tracey gaped at her friend. Once upon a time friend. Acquaintance. Whatever.

The rest of the girls laughed, or in Pansy's case, cackled. Tracey looked down, her hair covering her face as she blushed brightly.

As the girls continued their talk about "which witch was going to give Potter her cauldron", Tracey wanted to scream in frustration.

This was it?

Four years as an outlier and _this_ is what her Housemates talked about? Harry Potter's _wand_?

Merlin, why?

Why had she wanted this?

But… as much as she hated this, her mind began to wander.

Would Potter _want_ to go sneaking off into a cupboard?

"I mean, with the right witch, all it takes is a bit of _these_!" Pansy replied to Tracey's accidentally voiced thoughts by putting her hands on her chest.

Tracey felt her eyes pop in surprise. She didn't know how _bad_ her Roommates were! She lived with them!

Ugh. Gross. She was definitely not touching any of their hands.

"So, rumor has it that this isn't Potter's first time getting caught kissing someone." Daphne said conspiratorially.

"Pfft, yeah, right." Tracey snorted.

She quickly realized her mistake as the other five girls began looking at her with questioning looks.

"Well, face it. If _one_ kiss made the news, him getting passed around would have at least made rumor at some point in four years." Tracey said, proud of herself for not stuttering.

"Damn. She's right." Said Anastasia Montague, the final Slytherin girl in their year.

Surprisingly, most of the girls looked a bit upset at the news.

Maybe because their gossip was proven false, maybe because they couldn't get a piece of Potter while she could.

Not that she wanted to, honestly.

Honestly.

…right?

"I'm gonna head to the Great Hall, I need to get some food before Transfiguration." Tracey said.

The rest of the girls kind of waved her off, but she was expecting that.

As she walked along the surprisingly empty halls, she let her mind wander. She didn't really _know_ Harry Potter. She knew what everyone else said, about him being a big girl chaser and whatnot.

But while she may be inexperienced when it comes to boys, that kiss was certainly not great.

It wasn't even _good_.

Harry Potter is a cauldron peddler my ass.

"He's a what?" Came a very confused voice next to her.

Tracey jumped out of her skin when she saw the poofy haired menace that was Hermione Granger walking alongside her.

"How the hell did you do that?" Tracey yelped.

Hermione looked at the girl in concern.

"Tracey, I've been walking next to you and talking for five minutes."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Tracey retorted angrily.

"I have been talking to you for _five minutes_, Tracey, I don't know what else you want me to do." Hermione said in a tone usually reserved for a certain red-haired boy.

Tracey walked in nervous silence for a moment before looking around and pulling Hermione into an unused classroom in the corridor.

"Tracey, what the-" Hermione began, but froze, seeing Tracey's wand pointed at her.

"Davis…" Hermione said with her eyes narrowing.

"Tell me you didn't put me up to this to be a notch on his bedpost." Tracey said, deciding to just go outright and say it.

Hermione stared at the girl for a moment, the words slowly registering before she responded the only way she could; laughing wildly in the girl's face.

Tracey was worried.

Was this a "you're being stupid" laughing at her, a "you think he'd want _you_?" laugh, or a "you're right and that was quick" laugh?

"Tracey, Merlin, Harry's going to _hate_ me for this, he's still a virgin." Hermione said with a blushing smile.

"I figured, I just…" Tracey began, sighing, "I've never done anything with a boy and Harry was my first kiss, which, please, don't get me started."

"I actually meant to ask you about that. You kissed him?" Hermione asked.

_With her damned eyebrow raised judgingly_, Tracey thought.

"Only because he kissed me first." Tracey said.

"So," Hermione began, stretching that single syllable word, "he kisses you and you begin snogging him?"

"What? No! I kissed him back because that first one sucked, and I'll be damned if I'm stuck with a bad kisser!" Tracey said quickly.

"So," Hermione began again, stretching the word, "You believe there will be _more _kissing?"

"I hate you."

_**TDatBW**_

Ron was having a good week that seemed to only get better and better. Still!

His best mate had gotten his first kiss! He was so proud of him!

Little Harry was finally growing up, and for once he _wasn't_ jealous. He felt like such a big brother.

He had to meet up with Hannah later and they were finally gonna get into his horrid dress robes and fix them up, and then maybe have some one on one time.

For chess, of course.

"Well, look who it is, the lowliest of Weasels." Said a snide voice off to the side.

Ron stopped and looked to see Malfoy and his Slytherin gang just smirking at him. He knew they were being mean, but the whole situation made him smile.

"Hey, Draco, how are ya today." Ron replied, exaggerating his accent.

The boy looked at him incredulously.

"Weasley, did you somehow get dumber?" Malfoy taunted.

"Nah. But see, once you start getting some decent snogging, you lot will have a lot of other things to think about and do less pricking about, mate. Anyways, I smell pie from the Great Hall, I'll probably pick some up before tonight." Ron said, winking and smiling pleasantly at Draco and his ilk.

He couldn't help but grin as they all looked at him with mixes of shock and reverence.

Who would have thought Hannah was right? Telling them he was getting _some_ kissing made them shut up faster than any spell could.

A little while later, he found himself sitting in an unused classroom with Hannah, they were removing the offensive lace from his dress robes, pie long since eaten.

"So, I gotta ask," Ron began, tossing the offending lace they removed in a waste bin, "why did you tell me to say _that_ to Malfoy when it's not true?"

"Did he not have a funny reaction?" Hannah asked, looking up from her work on the sleeves.

"Oh, absolutely amazing, but aren't you worried about what would happen if they knew it wasn't true?" Ron asked, yanking his hand away as he accidentally pricked his finger with a needle.

"Then we make sure it stops being fake before then." Hannah said with a blush and a shrug, concentrating on the sleeve adjustments.

Ron looked at the girl and grinned.

Oh, he was definitely putting more attention to Herbology now. This plant was amazing!

_**TDatBW**_

Hermione couldn't help but wonder if reality was broken.

Maybe she was in some kind of alternative universe, because things were slowly making less and less sense.

First, there was Harry and Tracey.

Sure, she did set them up, but as dance partners. She never expected her friend to up and _kiss_ the girl, and now the girl was kissing back! To top it off, they were both avoiding each other out of sheer embarrassment, it was like dealing with _two_ Harrys.

Then, there was Ron.

The Twins were tired of his complaining so they set him up with some placebo to make him think he was on some kind of special plant.

That it worked didn't surprise her, she knew Ron had it in him. What did surprise her was how _well_ it worked. Apparently he had a date _and_ a girlfriend in one go.

Where the hell was the temperamental bastard she knew and loved?

All things considered, _was_ there a placebo? She knew the twins would definitely lie to her in an effort to test things out, but even they seemed stumped by Ron's behavior.

To quote, their exact reaction to their brother coming back with a surprising spring in his step and news of a significant other was;

"George?"

"Yes, George?"

"Are we sure those were the fake ones?"

"I have no idea, George."

That was definitely a sign of not good. Or good.

Was it bad she didn't know if Ron being stable and happy was good?

Merlin, why was this such an odd week?

To top it off, Hagrid had almost gotten into international trouble after it turns out they found a _second_ dragon egg in his hut.

Apparently, his excuse had been that Swedish Short Snouts _rarely_ spit fire.

Just like Hermione rarely read books, or how Ron rarely ate like a starving animal, or, well, she was sure the point got across.

To herself.

Merlin, she needed more friends.

_**TDatBW**_

Contrary to popular belief, Albus Dumbledore did not ignore the animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin. One would have to be outright _stupid _to miss that.

No, he didn't ignore it, he actively revelled in it.

At his age, who needed campy romantic comedies or mystery novels when he had a constant flow of intricate dramas playing out before him?

As long as no one was at risk of serious injury, he would sit back and watch the situations these students unfolded. If he got caught sneaking up on students, he would give absolutely baffling and pointless advice that no one really understood, and how he loved the perplexed looks he would get.

Right now, he was doing his best to get young mister Potter and miss Davis to hurry up and meet up. Their prior run in had been a wild ride and he wanted more of that up and coming disaster. An emotionally stunted boy meets a socially outcast girl, wonderful.

Ahh, Harry Potter.

He did not know what to think about that boy. It seemed like everything he did to prevent harm to the boy went horribly wrong.

Also contrary to popular belief, he didn't manipulate Harry's life. He knew the Dursleys hated magic, but with Petunia losing her sister, he would have believed she would embrace any connection to Lily, not mistreat it. But alas, legally, they were his guardians.

But how _did _Harry constantly get involved in such bad situations?

First year, the boy had gotten past an obstacle course meant for who he assumed was an agent of Lord Voldemort within Hogwarts, perhaps an older student whose parents hadn't been very good at parenting. Maybe the Malfoy kid. He had always wanted to set up an obstacle course, but Minerva told him there was no reason to have one, so that was nice.

He hadn't expected Harry Potter as a First Year to just waltz in and get into the gauntlet. He had warned them not to go to the forbidden corridor on the third floor, for Merlin's sake. What was he supposed to do, discourage the agent of his nemesis by having a guard on standby? That's why he had literally put a _Cerberus_ as the first obstacle.

As he told Minerva,

"Was I supposed to be prepared for over eager students to get past an animal most trained handlers actively _avoid_?"

Then the fiasco with that diary and the basilisk.

He was a powerful wizard, as modest about it as he tried to be about it, but he wasn't omniscient. How in the blazes was he supposed to know Salazar Slytherin would have hidden the entryway to his secret Parsel-only chamber within a girl's _toilet_?

Truth be told, he didn't even know _how_ Fawkes had managed to get into the Chamber of Secrets, much less where his Phoenix got the idea to take the Sorting Hat of all things, instead of bringing Albus himself. Of course, when young Harry asked, he took _some_ credit. It was his familiar, after all.

Then there was the thing with Sirius Black last year, that foolish boy.

Did it not occur to him, as disappointed in Sirius as he was, that Dumbledore would have heard him out if he _explained_ himself? Did he not _constantly _give people chances? But no, he instead chose to carry out some overdramatic, year long chase on Peter Pettigrew, who not only _wasn't _dead, he didn't even know the boy was competent enough to become an animagus!

And did Remus even _bother_ telling him? No!

Now he wasn't even upset about him leaving Hogwarts. Smartest Marauder, sure. Gryffindors, the lot of them.

Dumbledore sighed and glared at the Goblet of Fire.

He had _specifically _warded it against Harry Potter. Had Harry, in any way, shape, or form, willingly entered his name, the boy would have been out cold until _after_ the Goblet went out. He even mentioned it to everyone beforehand because he _knew_ how bad Harry's luck was.

And what happened? Oh, Albus, you cheated! Why does Hogwarts get _two_ Champions, oooh!

No offense to Harry, but if he was going to have two Champions, they would at least be senior students who were willing and able.

That being said, Harry flying around with a Hungarian Horntail on him was _amazing_. Sure, it was dangerous and he could have been seriously injured, but that was by far the best of shows. Leave it to Harry Potter to take something as simple as get item A from thing B and turn it into a circus.

Dumbledore was chuckling to himself as he up and wandered the halls, looking for more students to confuse and embarrass.

What was he working on now? Swapping the fake plant that the Weasley twins wanted to use on their brother for something more… interesting, that was working.

He chuckled to himself as he saw a couple of very handsy Hufflepuffs making their way to a discreet broom cupboard.

Before he could even _think_ about how to ruin their moment, he heard a mewling behind him. He turned to see his Transfiguration Professor as a cat behind him.

With an internal sigh, he smiled, wordlessly activating the glamour charm that made his eyes extra twinkly. How he loved the twinkling look.

"Hello, Minerva!" He said loudly, hearing the Hufflepuffs yelp and scramble as McGonagall transformed into a human.

"Albus, I've been looking for you," she began as the Headmaster groaned internally.

Here he had been hoping for a fun day. Well… it still could be.

_**TDatBW**_

"Now, Mister Potter, get in there!" Hermione said, shoving Harry into the unused classroom.

Harry turned around, wondering why Hermione referred to him as "Mister Potter", but decided not to question it.

Truth be told, he was glad to be out of his dorm. The many fanmail owls had been a near constant since the Daily Prophet reported his kiss.

The weirdest letters he received were the clearly cursed items that the letters kindly requested he place said items upon his date to "end her unworthy existence".

They wanted _him_ to curse the girl he was… going to a dance with and kissed twice.

That was lame.

What would he consider Tracey? She wasn't really a friend, but she did kiss him. Were they dating now? _Would_ she want to date him?

How he wished he knew.

With a shake of his head, he threw the thoughts off and turned to the girl in the room, who was looking at him.

_**TDatBW**_

"Granger!" A voice whispered to her left.

Hermione turned to see Tracey Davis with her arms crossed, looking rather cross herself.

"Done already?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"Done? You never brought Potter! I was waiting for like a half hour!" Tracey hissed.

"What? No, I took him to the room you asked me to!" Hermione said, incensed.

"Did you make sure the castle didn't change the rooms while you were gone?" Tracey asked.

Because of course, invisible walls and moving staircases wouldn't be enough for this place.

"I- dammit, no." Hermione said, looking apologetic. "He's probably been waiting for you this whole time."

Tracey looked at Hermione uneasily.

"He uh… he'd actually wait for me?" She asked, the hope in her voice painfully audible.

Hermione smiled gently at the girl.

Oh, how she reminded her of Harry.

"Yes, he would. You should have seen how nervous about seeing you he was." Hermione reassured the girl, walking her back to the room she had left Harry in earlier that day.

_**TDatBW**_

"Hello, Harry Potter." Luna Lovegood said, looking at the confused boy with her big silvery eyes.

"Err… hi." Harry said, not sure who the girl was.

"Why are you here?" She asked, not blinking.

"I was- well, she was…" Harry stuttered, not sure what to say.

The girl's stare was unnerving. Plus, he was sure she was another "I know who you are because I read your books" girl, and those always made him uncomfortable.

He had realized there were a lot of those people.

A lot.

A painful lot.

"Are you going to kiss me too, Harry Potter?" The girl asked, her eyes with that same surprised look.

"I-what? No!" Harry sputtered, frowning at himself. He had been sputtering a _lot._

"It's okay, Harry Potter. I have heard that you like kissing many girls, but you do not seem the type. But, even if that were not the case, I would not be able accommodate you." Luna said, giving him a very far away smile.

Harry looked completely confused, and voiced the only coherent thought he could muster;

"Why not?" He said, almost slapping his own mouth shut at the words.

"Daddy said I'm not allowed to kiss boys until I'm older. I'm sure he's being protective, but I'm not sure what older means, I was eleven when he said that." Luna replied, looking as though she was in a happy memory.

"That sounds… fatherly." He said lamely.

Luna nodded, looking at him with a spaced, dreamy smile, making Harry wonder if the Weasley Twins gave her some of Ron's "secret snacks".

"But, since it _is_ you, I may make an exception." Luna finished

"Oh, well thank you, that's- what?" Harry asked, caught off guard.

"You did go to all the effort of following me into an abandoned classroom in a rarely used part of the castle." Luna began.

"I didn't- No! My friend, Hermione, she-" Harry tried explaining.

"It would be most inconsiderate if I just let all of that effort go to waste." Luna said as though Harry wasn't saying anything.

"Luna, please, this is all a mix up, I swear." Harry tried as Luna walked (skipped, really) closer.

"How do you normally do this?" Luna asked, standing awkwardly close to the stammering boy.

"I don't normally- normally do what?" Harry asked, feeling overwhelmed, confused, and a bit frightened all at once.

"I have seen people do this." Luna said, putting her arms around his neck.

Harry burned a bright red. Why was this happening to him? Had his ancestors been mean to puppies or something?

"Luna, we can't do this, your father said so." Harry tried. Luna tilted her head and looked at him.

"You know my daddy?" She asked.

"No, but you said-" he tried.

"Then it'll be fine, daddy did say I could when I was older, I am older _now_." Luna said with a smile.

"Luna, I have- I mean, I'm seeing-" Harry tried, failing to say he was taking Tracey to the Ball because he didn't know what kind of relationship they had.

Boys.

Harry looked at Luna, who looked up at him expectantly.

Before he could decide what to do, the door opened behind him.

_**TDatBW**_

Contrary to popular belief, Severus Snape was a happy person. He was very severe by default, but honestly, his name was _Severus_. It would be strange if he seemed jolly.

And why wouldn't he be happy? He had a stable job as a Potions Master, he had tons of people who admired him, and more that feared him. He had coworkers he got along really well with, and most importantly, he wasn't in prison or dead despite his time as a Death Eater.

Happiness, my name is Snape.

Well…

Sort of.

He did have to deal with students, and his deal with Dumbledore was very against him. Plus, he had to deal with the one thing he hated more than anything; the absolute dunderhead that was Neville Longbottom.

For Merlin's sake, cauldrons were made to be potion resistant, _explosion _resistant, and this idiot somehow managed to _burn_ through cauldrons regularly.

Not even Minerva could defend the boy's ability to destroy the indestructible.

But right now, his issue was with the other small issue in his life; Harry Potter.

He didn't hate the boy, that was his best friend's child. But, as Head of Slytherin, he _had_ to be a bit of a bastard. He knew well enough that the Dark Lord wasn't gone. If someone reported to their parents he wasn't bullying Potter, it would be really bad if, or rather, when, the Dark Lord returned.

At least he graded the boy fairly.

But grades were not the issue, his issue was the damned Ball.

One of his Snakes was going with Potter to the dance, which meant he owed Minerva ten galleons for losing the bet.

After they had heard about Potter's latest exploits in the news, the four Heads had a bet on what the truth was, Minerva stating he had a singular Slytherin as his date, based on the Hogwarts rumors, Snape was sure it was Granger.

Needless to say, after seeing Davis yelling at Potter about his date etiquette, he knew he lost.

Well, there went his whiskey money for the week.

He stood in front of the door to the Deputy-Headmistress' office and knocked once.

"Enter." Came the Scottish woman's voice.

Snape took a deep breath and entered. Minerva looked at the man with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yes, what is it, Severus?" McGonagall asked after a rather long moment of silence.

Without a word, Snape took a small pouch and plunked it on her desk, leaving with a flourish of his billowing cloak.

Minerva looked at the pouch and counted out the ten galleons, immediately understanding what happened.

"Well, I'll be damned." She said with a pleased smirk, putting the pouch within her desk.

There were other such now empty pouches sitting in there from over the years. In the years since Snape had come to the castle and the betting had begun, she had returned maybe two or three of the pouches to their owner.

Maybe someday, he would stop betting against her. Until then, McGonagall was more than happy to take the galleons from Snape.

"I wonder how he found out." She mused, going back to her work.

_**TDatBW**_

"I cannot believe you! What in the _hell_ do you think you're doing?!" Tracey demanded, seeing Potter with some _literally _blonde bimbo.

"I believe that I was trying to kiss him." Luna said, her perpetually surprised look irritating Tracey.

"I can see that, I can't believe he let you!" Tracey said, glaring at both of them.

"I most certainly did **not**!" Harry said indignantly.

Of course, Tracey wouldn't believe that. What boy turned down kisses?

She would not admit how hurt she felt. This was just a date to some stuff, boring, mandated dance, and totally not about her feeling pretty with a guy she was… err… kissing.

"I wasn't doing anything, this insane bint won't let me go!" Harry cried, confused when Luna started looking around.

"Harry Potter, nothing is holding you." The girl said, looking up in confusion.

"Uh, yeah, _**you**_ are." Tracey snarled.

Damn, she was being hostile. But that scrawny boy was hers!

...To uh… dance with. And stuff.

Ugh.

Lovegood, however, looked at her with a frown she_ swore_ was condescending.

"Well, yes, how am I supposed to get a kiss if I move away?" She asked as though it was a normal question.

"You… you haven't gotten one yet?" Tracey asked, that painfully hopeful tone present again.

"No, otherwise I would look silly just standing with a boy like this." Luna said.

Tracey turned and finally acknowledged Hermione, who was standing stock still in an effort to avoid becoming part of this awkward teenage drama.

She huffed angrily at being tagged in.

"What?" She asked, knowing full well what the issue was.

"Can you get this _girl_ off of my date?" Tracey asked.

"Luna, can you let go of Harry?" Hermione asked with a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Yes." Luna replied, not letting go.

Tracey watched Luna not let go for longer than Hermione would have believed her to be able to.

"Why are you still holding on?" The girl snapped after about thirty seconds.

"Well, I was asked if I can let go of Harry, which of course I can, I'm not _stuck _on him." Luna said.

Hermione tried her best to disguise her chuckle as a throat clearing, and judging by the look Tracey shot her, it did not work.

"Are you seriously holding on to him because of a linguistic difference between 'can' and 'may'?" Hermione asked as Tracey opened her mouth.

Luna nodded.

"As I said, I cannot get a kiss otherwise." She replied.

"_May _you let him go, Luna?" Hermione asked, trying to hide the amusement she felt towards the situation.

"But Hermione, I just said I cannot get a kiss if I let him go." Luna pouted.

"Oh for- Harry, just kiss her so we can get on with this." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

"You will do no such thing! I thought you were on _my_ side!" Tracey hollered, looked at Hermione with scandalized eyes.

"Tracey, it's just a kiss with some boy, what does it matter?" Luna asked.

"Because I got him first, he's my boy!" Tracey snapped indignantly.

"Oh. I did not realize he's your boyfriend." Luna said, frowning at Harry.

"He- he's not!" Tracey replied, blushing brightly.

"Merlin's _balls_." Hermione cursed to herself.

"Oh. Then it does not matter if I get a kiss then." Luna said with a smile.

"Can someone explain _what _is happening? My neck is starting to hurt." Harry complained.

Tracey looked around the room, and examined the situation.

Harry squirming awkwardly and pulling back every time Luna tried to inch closer to his face. Luna, that cursed slag, holding on to her date- _who was certainly __**not**__ her boyfriend_\- and not letting go. Hermione was being particularly _un_helpful, not just hexing the Third Year off of her totally-not-her-boyfriend-but-still-her-date-boy.

_Damn_.

Did she just come up with a new hyphenation for him?

She looked at the room and saw the other three occupants staring at her.

"Does she normally vocalize her thoughts?" Luna asked, Tracey going bright red.

"Err… sometimes?" Harry said, not helping.

"How strange. And people call _me_ odd." Luna said in her usual dreamy tone.

"Look, Luna, Tracey might not be my girlfriend," Harry began, and Tracey ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach, "but she is my date to the Yule Ball, and it would be very rude of me if I kissed other girls while having a date. Would you please let go?"

Luna looked at him for a moment before letting go, her usual dreamy smile back.

"That is a very fair point, Harry Potter. I will wait for my kiss until after the ball then." Luna said before skipping out of the room.

"I didn't agree to that, did I?" Harry asked Hermione, who simply shrugged.

"Well, she's gone, so am I." Hermione said, letting the non-couple have some privacy.

There was a moment of silence from the thick awkward that hung in the air.

"So…" Harry said, not really sure where to go.

"Look, I'm- I'm sorry for that scene. You must think I'm an absolute nut." Tracey stammered out.

"No, it's fine. I've been wondering where we stood with each other since the… kissing… thing too." Harry said with a small smile.

Tracey smiled back, appreciating the effort Harry was putting in.

Maybe the next few hours wouldn't be so bad.

_**TDatBW**_

Albus Dumbledore stood up, gathering the wrappers to the many lemon drops he had eaten while listening in to the teenaged drama that unfolded.

One small confundus charm on miss Granger, and she had dropped mister Potter off with miss Lovegood.

Oh, how he lived for moments like these.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder**

**Chapter 3: Things, stuff, and other things.**

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Potter. Grab me by the waist or so help me, I'll kick you in the _taint_!" Tracey growled, moving one of her dance partner's hands to the proper spot on her waist.

Harry didn't need to be told twice, especially after such a threat. While he didn't know _what_ part of his anatomy might be his taint, he was in no rush to find out.

He looked at the girl with the playful glare and slowly smiled. It had been a week since Hermione had set them up, and _somehow_ had managed to not get caught together.

Almost like Slytherins were sneaky.

Surprise, surprise.

Harry snorted in amusement, imagining his inner voice slowly becoming more Snape-like.

"I'm just… not experienced with these things." Harry said, placing his hands in their proper places for the other dance they were rehearsing.

He looked down at the shorter girl and saw she was looking back up at him. And she was blushing, very, _very_ clearly.

"How am I supposed to be comfortable with my hands there if you react like this?" Harry said, hastily putting his hands by his side.

"By being a Gryffindor! You lot are all noble whatevers, so be noble, have some damn manners, and come manhandle me!" She almost shouted, clamping her mouth shut after that last part.

Harry looked at her incredulously.

For a "sneaky slimy snake", she really had no control over her own words.

Then again, neither did Malfoy. But that was most likely because he liked hearing himself talk.

Self-important ponce.

"Fine. I will err… _noble_ up. Not gonna comment on the manhandling." He said, stepping close.

"No, no, you ruined it." Tracey said, crossing her arms and turning away.

Harry smiled and blushed a bit himself.

This was usually what led up to a few tentative kisses between them. Not that that was bad.

He very much enjoyed kissing Tracey, and definitely wanted to see where things went, but an _hour_ of listening to Ron and Hannah feeling each other up in the Gryffindor dorms… well… it was a very long and uncomfortable hour.

For him.

Ron hadn't even noticed Harry.

Nor had Hannah.

Huh.

Maybe they did have something in common after all.

Mentally shaking the thoughts away, he slowly closed the space between himself and the girl biting her lip and looking at him hopefully.

With a slightly practiced flourish, he pulled Tracey in and leaned in to kiss her and-

"Harry, there you are!" Hermione cried, walking in and looking down at the rather heavy book she carried.

"Merlin's saggy left _tit_, Granger, don't you know how to _knock_?!" Tracey spat out, glaring at the bushy haired girl.

"I-" Hermione began.

"No, she doesn't." Harry interrupted, smirking at his friend gaping at him.

"When we first met her on the Express, she just barged in and then demanded Ron show her the spell he was working on." Harry said, feeling slightly glad that Hermione turned beet red.

"I'm all for some things staying the same, but that is one bad habit that _definitely _needs to go." Tracey said, enjoying Granger's obvious embarrassment.

"If you two are done," Hermione said, hoping to derail the subject, "I've been trying to see if I can find any pattern to past Twi-Wizard tournaments and this one."

"And?" Harry asked, still cross that his kissing was being interrupted.

This was _his _time, dammit.

"Well, it seems that having some big monster tends to only be the first task, so fortunately, it seems very unlikely you'll deal with another big beast." Hermione said, her voice clearly showing relief.

"Anyways, I-" Hermione began.

"Hey, Granger?" Tracey said, interrupting Hermione.

"Yes?" The bushy haired girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Have I pissed you off lately? Done something to make you upset at me?" Tracey asked.

"No! What makes you think-" Hermione tried in confusion.

"Well, you barge in here, start talking up a storm about the _possibilities _of the tournament, and have _yet_ to realize boy wonder here has his arms around my waist, mine around his neck, and I'm quite sure I was about to get some _snogging_ done." Tracey said, straight faced before turning to Harry, who nodded in agreement.

"I- I didn't mean-" Hermione tried again, feeling absolutely embarrassed now.

"I know you didn't, but you're _still_ here." Tracey said, now with a full Cheshire cat grin on her face.

"I'll see you later." Hermione squeaked, running out of the door, which closed with a rather loud bang.

"Well, that went well." Tracey said.

Harry looked at the girl in his arms, her eyes alight with mischief. He couldn't even bring himself to be upset that she had chased his friend away.

Without another word, Harry leaned down and kissed her.

**TDatBW**

Ron Weasley was absolutely the luckiest guy in Hogwarts.

He was leaving a very important meeting in a broom cupboard and wandering the halls towards the Great Hall at a pace much more leisurely than usual. And why not?

He had his dress robes cleaned up, his dances in place (_thank you for the lessons, mum_), and a great date, who had become his girlfriend.

The only bad thing that had come of it was a very _descriptive _letter from his dad about "_The Talk_".

And honestly, he couldn't even bring himself to be mad about whoever had spilled to his parents. Why would he? Hannah was great, after all. A Cannons fan, someone very passionate about cooking, which Ron absolutely loved being a taste tester for, and the snogging, well...

It wasn't his fault Harry had sat there and listened like a pervert, now was it?

Well… maybe a little. But Hermione had said Harry could have left at any time, so definitely not his fault.

At this moment, Ron was just floating through life.

"Hey, Ron." A voice called.

Ron turned to see Ginny walking up to him, looking rather sullen.

"Ah. Hey, Gin. Are you holding up okay?" He asked. He knew Ginny had been harboring a crush on Harry, and while it did make him a bit uncomfortable, it was hard to miss how upset she had been lately.

She wasn't exactly sneaky about it, and _he_ noticed, which spoke _**volumes**_.

"I'm fine, I guess." She said, sighing.

"You are. And you know why?" Ron said, taking sudden inspiration.

What kind of bloke would he be if he let his only sister feel sad?

"Why?" She asked with a frown.

"Because, you're my sister. You're an amazing person, and just because one bloke won't see that, doesn't mean another won't." He said with a grin.

"Where did that come from?" Ginny asked in surprised, fighting the small smile that turned her lips.

"Well, as hard to imagine as it might be," Ron said, in full sarcasm," I had a thing for a friend. But that wasn't gonna work. We were too different, and that's okay. Instead, I kept my friend and have someone else who's rather amazing."

"And you think Har-errr… me and this _bloke_ wouldn't work?" Ginny asked, knowing the answer.

Ron gave her a "Isn't that obvious" face that would have made Hermione jealous.

"Gin, you and Harry have me, Quidditch, and a run in with a big snake in common. You like being able to stand out, and if Harry could, he would disappear into thin air. You couldn't have less in common if you tried." Ron said with an apologetic smile.

"Well, they say trauma brings people together." Ginny mumbled.

Ron laughed at her comment.

"What?" She demanded, seeing her brother crack up.

"Gin, if that were true, me and Hermione would be married by now. Instead, I'm realizing how absolutely awful the arguments would have gotten as a couple." Ron said, grinning.

Ginny couldn't help herself. She gave a small, tearful laugh and hugged her brother.

Ron could be a berk, but he was right. And in her heart, she knew she would be okay.

Ron was the luckiest guy in Hogwarts, and at once, he felt like a good older brother. It made him smile.

_**TDatBW**_

"Still no luck, eh, Potter?" Draco Malfoy sneered as Harry walked down the hall.

Malfoy's gang laughed with him as Harry looked at the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"Luck at what, exactly?" Harry asked coolly.

"Getting a date for the ball, of course!" Malfoy said with a mean grin. "Weasel got himself a girl, or are you the one taking the mudblood?"

"Malfoy, are you okay?" Harry asked, feigning concern. Malfoy looked confused.

"What? Of course I am!" Malfoy said indignantly.

"Are you sure? You've been taunting people left and right about not having dates, and I'm while I'm flattered you're trying to get my attention, even Parkinson has a date, from what I've heard." Potter said, slowly more mockingly.

"She- what?" Draco sputtered.

His cronies seemed to be trying not to laugh, other than Zabini, who was openly grinning widely, and Nott, who looked spooked and shook his head subtly. Harry looked at the mousy boy and grinned.

"Maybe you should try to find someone else, Draco. It would never work between us." Harry said dramatically before turning. "Oh, congratulations on the date, Nott!"

Draco turned to Theo, who seemed very interested in the painting next to himself, which in turn was smirking at him.

"Harry, mate, that was brilliant!" Lee Jordan said, two grinning Weasley twins on his tail.

Harry smiled back and kept walking.

"How did you know his bird found someone else?" Fred (maybe) asked with a bright grin.

"I didn't." Harry said with a grin of his own.

_**TDatBW**_

Tracey felt nervous every time she walked into her Common Room.

She knew she was covering her steps rather well when it came to being Harry's date. And snogging partner. And as of late someone who he spent a lot of time with.

Morgana, were they in a _relationship_?

"Is who in a relationship?" Daphne asked, walking in behind Tracey.

The brunette was startled for a moment before her mind came up with the perfect deflection.

"Parkinson and Nott. I heard there was some rumor that she was his date." Tracey said, remembering what Harry had told her.

"Not quite. It seems Nott asked Pansy since darling Draco still hadn't, and she didn't outright reject him." Daphne said with a bored expression, but an interested gleam in her eye.

"But her and Draco?" Tracey asked, now genuinely confused.

"Well, maybe he got bored and wanted to ask someone else. Merlin knows he's been on Krum's trail since the guy walked into the castle."

Now that she thought about it, that wasn't inaccurate. Draco had been chumming up to the Bulgarian. It didn't even seem like the Veela girl was pulling him in.

Huh.

Maybe Malfoy _was_ just curious about his own team?

The sputtering and rackuous laughing pulled her from her thoughts to realize she had spoken out loud.

About Draco being bi-curious.

In front of him.

To his friends.

_In front of him._

Well… damn.

"I am _**not **_some- some _poof_!" Draco screamed, burning absolutely scarlet.

"Draco, Draco, we understand. We support you learning about yourself." Blaise Zabini managed out between laughter and catching his breath.

"You'll regret opening your mouth, Davis!" Malfoy yelled, pulling his wand.

Tracey paled and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the spell through the laughter, when a soft voice cut through the entire wall of sound.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Everyone in the Commons stopped, laughter dying on the students' lips, looking at their Head of House standing in the doorway of the room.

"Just some issue with rumors, Professor." An older student said quickly. No one lied to Snape, he always knew, and it never ended well. "Davis was asking about some current gossip regarding Malfoy, and he was not happy to hear it brought up."

"Malfoy, wand away. Davis, with me." Snape said, turning with the usual flourish of his cloak.

"You'll get yours." Malfoy said ominously as Tracey walked away.

_**TDatBW**_

Draco Malfoy was offended.

He would make sure his father heard about this!

_**TDatBW**_

A short walk later found Tracey sitting on the opposite side of Snape's desk. She was bouncing nervously as her Head of House stared in his usual bored demeanor.

"Davis, are you incapable of sitting still for even a moment?" Snape asked bluntly.

"I'm just nervous, sir." Tracey said meekly.

"Do you require a calming draught?" He asked, slightly sarcastic, but surprisingly meaning it.

"N-no, sir." Tracey said, willing herself to sit still.

"Now, do you know why you're here?" Snape asked, his cold, calculating gaze locked on her.

"Because I upset Malfoy?" She asked, actually believing that to be the reason.

"I could care less that he's been slighted, even Lucius is tired of the constant complaints home." Snape said with an amused air about him.

"Then what?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Are you being safe?" He asked, deciding not to waste time.

"I'm sorry?"

"I mean, we aren't going to have little _Potters_ already, right?" Snape asked.

How had he known? And why didn't he care? No. This was _Snape_. He knew, and he was going to make sure she knew how utterly screwed she was. Harry was his worst one.

"My worst what?" Snape asked, one eyebrow crooked high.

"Enemy?" She squeaked out, realizing she was speaking out loud.

"That title belongs to Longbottom or those accursed Weasley Twins." Snape said with a sneer, leaning back.

"But… you hate Harry! You constantly insult him!" Tracey blurted out.

Snape looked at her, his one raised eyebrow somehow going higher.

"Davis, I cannot expect you to understand the complexities of my position here, but understand that is a simple necessity." Snape said in a voice that sounded decidedly bored.

"So you don't care that Harry and I are going to the dance together?" Tracey asked, confused.

"Oh, I absolutely do, but not because of Potter, but because of _you_, Miss Davis." Snape said.

"_Me_?!"

"Unless there is another Tracey Davis. You're not a Polyjuice clone, are you?" Snape said with a heavily sarcastic voice even a brick wall would understand.

"But… but why me?" Tracey asked.

"Miss Davis, you know as well as I do, that you will be seen _publicly _with Potter. Your Year mates and upperclassmen will all be present to the Ball." Snape said, as if talking to a young child. "That means a lot of people who wish Potter ill, will also wish the same onto you by association."

"Everyone already ignores and hates me." Tracey muttered petulantly.

"What was that?" Snape asked with his eyes narrowing.

"I said everyone already ignores me." Tracey said, unsure of where the sudden boldness had come from.

"How so?" Snape asked.

"No one bothers to talk to me unless it's to tell me to know my place. I don't have any friends here. No offense, sir, but I spent a week locked out of the Common Room." Tracey said, feeling lighter at getting this off her chest to her Head of House.

Snape looked impassively for a moment.

"Miss Davis, at any point in this week that you were locked out, did you come see me?" He asked.

"Er… no, sir." She said, looking down at her hands.

"And why not?" He questioned her.

"I thought you'd yell at me." Tracey said meekly.

"So you preferred a week of sleeping in some random place in the castle to coming here and getting called a dunderhead and getting the password so you could sleep in your own bed?" Snape asked, Tracey knowing she had made a mistake.

She fell for one of the classic blunders.

"Yes." She said softly, clearly embarrassed.

"And who's fault is that?"

"Mine, sir."

"Precisely. I do not tolerate idiocy, nor bullying in-house, but I cannot know something is wrong if I'm not approached, Miss Davis. I am worried for your wellbeing, but I will do my best to stop any issues your classmates may have once your… relation with Potter comes to light, but I do want you to know my door will be opened, should you need it." Snape said softly.

Tracey nodded.

"Thank you, sir." She said gratefully.

Tracey made to get up and leave, but Snape cleared his throat, making her turn back towards him.

"Sir?" She asked, confused.

"As much as I just trust teenagers," Snape drawled, deeply sarcastic, "You are not leaving until we have had a very important chat on sexual safety, your parents requested it."

Tracey looked at Snape in the most terrified expression any student had ever looked at him with.

_**TDatBW**_

It was a thoroughly traumatized Tracey Davis that walked the halls of Hogwarts the next day.

Snape was very _explicitly_ detailed on what he had explained. She was sure he got some sort of sick pleasure from her discomfort and horror.

Tracey knew how her body had begun to change during puberty, her parents had made sure she knew she was "_becoming a young woman_" and not "_dying bloody_".

But Snape?

Ugh.

Just _ugh_.

She had never been so disgusted with bodily anatomy.

She grimaced at every reflection of herself and outright _cringed_ at every boy she saw.

She walked into the classroom where she was supposed to meet Harry for their daily training and groaned.

She knew she had some very conflicted feelings towards Harry.

One one hand, he _is_ a Gryffindor, the main enemy of Slytherin House.

But on the other hand, he is cute. Sweet.

Had definitely gotten better at kissing.

And it's adorable how bad at moving things along he is in fear of upsetting her. He respected her boundaries, which she knew no one in Slytherin would do since she wasn't "_of class_".

"I'm glad that's on the plus sides, then." Came a grimacing, if slightly embarrassed Harry Potter.

"Ah, yes. You're here." Tracey said, feeling her resolve to dance crack a bit at seeing Harry and having survived Snape's sex-ed class.

Harry looked at her in confusion and set his book against down on the desks at the edge of the room and began walking to sit next to Tracey.

"Stop!" She cried, mentally groaning at herself again.

Harry stopped midstep, his face paling.

She knew that look. He was worried he did something wrong and didn't want anything to do with him

Wow.

She really _did_ pay attention to him.

She also didn't say _that_ out loud, which made her feel a little better.

"Sorry, I swear it's not you." Tracey began, making Harry nod slowly, standing rigidly where he stopped moving.

With a sigh, she began explaining her conversation with Snape, making sure she was as detailed as possible to show her hesitancy.

She explained he had somehow found out about them going to the dance together and that he will try to keep her safe from being murdered in her sleep by her House mates.

Snape never said that _explicitly_, but it had been said as subtext.

Maybe.

Harry frowned a bit, surprised that he didn't make the list of people Snape _actually _hated.

"That's… strange, but why are you acting so…" Harry said, not sure how to finish his sentence, waving his hands awkwardly instead.

Tracey groaned and took a deep breath, trying to quickly and accurately explain her crash course into sexual safety and health from one (now very sadistic) Professor Snape.

The more she talked, the more Harry burned red and asked for her to stop.

_Repeatedly_.

But she continued until the entire thing was said, from contraceptive spells and potions, to the very uncomfortable part of making sure your partner is comfortable, to the grand finale, where her mother had kindly suggested, and Snape had _gladly_ shown the proof of the request, that foreplay was important.

Harry looked significantly more uncomfortable than she had ever seen him, and that… _actually _made her feel better.

"Merlin, why would you tell me that?!" Harry cried, trying to avoid touching himself in any way.

"How do you think I felt? I had to have that lovely little chat _face to face_ with **SNAPE** of all people!" Tracey shot back.

Harry sat back quietly, mostly because he didn't have any sort of comeback.

Sure, Tracey's retelling is bad, but he didn't have to see his most hated professor.

Who had admitted he didn't actually hate him.

"Imaging just the sick pleasure he took from all of that. I have never seen Snape just… grinning." Tracey said with a shudder.

"I don't need that mental image, you gave me enough." Harry complained.

"I know, I'm sorry. But talking to you made it a bit better." Tracey said.

"Thanks." He said, looking somewhat sick.

"Hey, if I had to suffer, my boyfriend will too." Tracey said, grimacing at the stuff her parents put her through.

She was so deep in thought she didn't think twice about her words, but that boy next to her was certainly thinking about it. And he was certainly thinking about it later when he was with his friends.

_**TDatBW**_

"You alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, seeing her friend stare miserably into the fire of the Common Room.

"She's gonna be in danger." Harry mumbled, not looking at Hermione.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a frown, sitting next to Harry.

She looked at Ron, who took a seat by them.

He leaned over and placed his head on her shoulder.

"Anyone I date. Think about it. First year was the whole issue with Quirrell, then the thing with the Basilisk, then the stuff with Sirius and the Dementors, not to mention the werewolf, trolls, and acromantula colony in the forest." Harry listed.

"I'm sorry, a _what _colony in the _where_?!" Hermione asked.

"And then, to top things, I'm in some mortal tournament for adults, and I get to add bloody _dragons_ to my list of magical monsters I've had to deal with." Harry continued.

"I mean, fair, but can we talk about this colony of-" Hermione tried.

"So now, with all of that, we have some bloody fancy ball going on, I have a date and have been enjoying my time with her, but she called me her boyfriend, and now I'm concerned for her safety with all the horrors that seem to find me." Harry said, finally finishing.

"Alright. First thing first, you're the only person in the world that would have such a convoluted thought process on your school time." She began, ignoring Harry's glare.

"Secondly, I'm glad she's calling you her boyfriend and I hope she helps pull you out of your own head, Merlin knows what the hell is happening in there if your immediate response to having a significant other is to become a moody blockhead."

"Hey, that was-" Harry tried, but Hermione silenced him with a glare.

"Thirdly, how come this is the first I'm hearing about an acromantula colony in the Forbidden Forest?" She asked, her glare not letting up.

Harry deflated a bit and looked at her sheepishly.

Ron gave her an awkward smile and shrugged.

"Err.. you were Petrified."

_**TDatBW**_

"So I called him my boyfriend?" Tracey asked to confirm.

Hermione and Ron nodded.

They had managed to signal her during dinner and she had followed them to some hidden room Ron seemed to know.

She was definitely not touching any surface that looked stable.

"That's what he said. He seemed very put off by it." Ron said, not really paying attention.

It wasn't his fault, he was just dragged away from a rather fun situation with Hannah by a very irate Hermione and he was not happy.

Nevertheless, Tracey looked noticeably let down by the news that Harry didn't seem to want to be her boyfriend.

"I mean, it makes sense. Who would want weird Tracey around?" She said in a saddened tone.

"As eloquent as his wording was, Ronald is cross because I pulled him off- I mean, _away_ from Hannah." Hermione said, glaring at her friend who looked anywhere but at her with a sheepish look.

"So he didn't say he didn't want to be with me?"

That hopeful voice always made her heart break.

"Well, not necessarily in those terms…" Hermione began, but quickly followed up, seeing Tracey's expression drop.

"More like he's concerned for your safety."

"Why would he- because I'm a Slytherin and my House kind of hates him, right?" Tracey said sadly.

"I mean, there's that." Ron said.

"And he's likely worried for my safety. I mean, if half of what he explained has happened in Hogwarts since he's been here is true, I'm probably gonna have some kind of monster or villain coming after me." Tracey said with a grimace.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

"Mione, are we sure this isn't Harry under Polyjuice?" Ron said, looking critically at the short girl.

"Excuse me?!" Tracey asked, confused as to why two people in as many days had suggested that.

"It's just… that is _exactly_ what Harry said." Hermione said, frowning.

"Well, it makes sense." She said, crossing her arms.

"Blimey, there's two of them." Ron said, both amused and concerned.

"Two what?" Tracey asked.

"Are you being a moody blockhead at having a significant other too?" Ron asked.

"A moody _what_?"

"No, she wants that to happen, remember?" Hermione said, pointing out Tracey's expression from earlier.

"Hey, why am I being interrogated now?" Tracey asked, wondering when the conversation went from asking if Harry was okay with being her boyfriend or not to a detailing of what her expressions meant.

"Tracey, can I ask you something and get an honest response?" Ron asked, ignoring what she had said.

"I- you know what, if it gets me free from you two, sure." She said, glaring at the two Lions.

"Were you ever planning on talking to Harry about this and seeing if he wanted to be your boyfriend?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione's impressed look.

Tracey mumbled and blushed.

"What was that?" Ron asked, slowly smirking.

"I said probably not, dammit." Tracey grumbled.

"Yup, we have two Harrys." Hermione said with a sigh.

"Have I mentioned how much I hate you?" Tracey said with a glare at the bushy haired girl, who simply smiled back.

_**TDatBW**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Tracey Davis and the Boy Wonder **_

_**Chapter 4: Against the Clock, or What are You Doing in that Cupboard, Mr. Weasley?**_

_**TDatBW**_

"Mister Weasley?"

In his time in Hogwarts, Ron had never heard McGonagall sound so concerned. Usually more angry or quite pissed, and sure, concerned after some of Harry's injuries, but never this concerned.

"Yes, Professor?" Ron asked, trying to avoid eye contact.

"May I ask, what you were doing in the cupboard, Mister Weasley, and why you're half-undressed and so disheveled?"

Ron looked around, trying to keep his cool. He saw students looking both amused and surprised at his state of undress.

He saw a head of platinum blond and immediately had a story.

"I dunno, Professor. I was walking to meet my girlfriend, Hannah, and I was hit with some spell. I awoke in the cupboard starkers and began dressing before something like… well… _**this**_ happened." Ron said. McGonagall looked at the empty broom cupboard and saw the rest of the Weasley boy's clothes and nothing else.

"Did you happen to hear who cast the spell?"

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment, pretending to be trying to remember.

"I… I think it sounded like Malfoy, Professor." Ron said.

"You what?!"

McGonagall turned to see the pale boy look both confused and angry.

"Don't act innocent, Mister Malfoy. You've left students out cold and in cupboards before. Come, we're speaking with Professor Snape." McGonagall said, glaring at the blond who gave the most scathing look of loathing he could to the red haired boy, who in turn, grinned and waved with a wink.

"Mister Weasley," McGonagall said, turning back to Ron, who shifted his taunt to a look of worry. "Get into the cupboard and get dressed. I assume you don't need the infirmary?"

Ron shook his head. "I'll be back out in just a minute."

With a curt nod, McGonagall led Malfoy to the dungeons, the crowd dispersing as Ron walked into the broom cupboard and shut the door.

"Are they gone?" Hannah asked, peeking over the invisibility cloak she hid behind.

Ron nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, blamed that git Malfoy, said he attacked me." He smirked.

Hannah smiled and rolled her eyes, dropping the invisibility cloak, revealing her own state of undress.

"So, do we have to go, or can we pick up where we left off?" She asked.

Ron grinned.

He really needed to thank the Twins soon.

And he would.

Eventually.

_**TDatBW**_

Tracey hated herself.

She knew she hated herself every time she walked out on Harry.

Contrary to her original experiences, he wasn't just "the nicest guy" she had met, he was just genuinely nice and cared about her, regardless of her "lower blood" that so constantly sidelined her in Slytherin.

She really enjoyed kissing him, dancing with him, hell, just spending time with him.

But she called him her _boyfriend_. And his friends _knew_.

They bloody _**knew.**_

And that was bad.

For reasons she was not aware of.

Yet.

Maybe.

As she walked down the halls, she failed to notice a girl standing in front of her as she collided.

"Oh, dammit. Sorry!" Tracey said, scrambling up.

She began to hold her hand out to help until she saw none other than Luna Lovegood in front of her.

"Wow, that's nicer than what I normally get. Apologies accepted." Luna said, dusting herself off as she got up.

"Yes, I'm sure." Tracey deadpanned.

In her defense, Luna hadn't actually done anything to earn Tracey's ire, but… she still felt that uncomfortable pit in her stomach.

_You're jealous and you have no reason to be._

But didn't she? Luna had tried to make a move on her guy!

_Is he your guy?_

Of course, she had called him her boyfriend, after all.

_And then proceeded to be horribly embarrassed by it._

Do you think he noticed?

_Without a doubt. He probably thinks you're embarrassed of him._

"I don't understand, why would you be embarrassed of Harry Potter being your boyfriend?" Luna asked, her usual confused expression making her look even more quizzical.

"I'm not! Now mind your own business and stop interrupting." Tracey snapped.

Tracey stood there for a moment, glaring at the younger girl who looked at her with unhidden fascination.

"Dammit, I lost the conversation." Tracey said, sighing.

"You were trying to confirm if Harry Potter felt as though you were embarrassed by him or not." Luna said in her usual way that made Tracey feel uncomfortable.

"I know, I just feel bad because neither of us asked and I don't want him to feel obligated to stick with me." Tracey said, not caring that Luna was her romantic rival.

Kind of.

"We're rivals? I've never had a rival before, much less a _romantic_ rival! Should I curse you?" Luna said, smiling brightly.

"Not now, I need to understand what to do now that I'm sure Harry thinks I'm embarrassed by him." Tracey said, waiving the younger girl's question.

"Have you tried talking to him? Admittedly, you're both not very good with words, you're both actually rather awful at using your words, but you should be direct." Luna said

Tracey looked at the girl and blinked.

"That's… hurtful, but you're right. I'll go talk to him. We're supposed to meet up at our usual spot, assuming he doesn't think I've ditched him." Tracey said, getting up.

"Oh good. So do I curse you now?" Luna asked.

Tracey looked at her confused, not sure what that was about, she hadn't really paid a lot of attention, but also admitting she didn't have a whole lot of time to meet up with Harry.

"Er… sure. Whatever. I'm gonna go." Tracey said, turning around to find her and Harry's classroom.

A couple of moments later, Tracey yelped as she tripped, landing spectacularly into several students.

"What the hell, Davis?" A larger boy she tripped into yelled.

"Sorry, she is my rival, I had to curse her." Luna said, skipping away merrily.

No one really said anything as Tracey got up, completely red faced and sped away.

She could deal with Luna later, for now, she had a boy to friend.

Ugh.

Definitely not her best line.

_**TDatBW**_

Harry knew he shouldn't be this nervous, but he was.

He and Tracey had been practicing dances for about two weeks. He knew what his dances were, the steps, hell, he could lead blindfolded, and Tracey had made damn sure of that.

But after a week or so from it happening, the whole being called "my boyfriend" by Tracey had not been addressed.

As much as he tried to be patient and wait for her to bring it up (Hermione's idea), she just would not. For a girl who would constantly blurt what was on her mind, she seemed hellbent on _not_ talking about being her boyfriend.

Which made Harry spiral into what Ron called his "usual broody mood".

Prat.

Ron had suggested being more proactive in the situation, to be the one to bring it up and talk.

Which he had just tried, and it ended with Tracey sputtering and babbling incoherently before she ran out of the room blushing so brightly she put the Gryffindor reds to shame.

So he now sat in the empty classroom, feeling the usual sinking feeling of being alone once more.

He couldn't really say he blamed her, especially after Snape's… _talk_. She seemed off-put to even kiss him, and they were rather chaste, quick little pecks she initiated, not that he minded. He really didn't want to push.

Well, he _did_, but he wouldn't.

Dammit.

Maybe she _was_ ashamed to be around him.

It made sense, he wasn't anything special outside of some stupid scar on partner's? The boyfriend comment was likely a slip of the tongue, something said aloud but not meant. The kissing was nice, but maybe it was just kissing. People did it casually, right?

Kissing, that is.

Not anything… _other_.

He looked at the classroom door.

It remained closed, no sound on the other side that would show someone coming by.

Harry sighed and got his stuff.

They had their dances down, he knew they'd manage the Ball without embarrassing each other.

That's what they were, right? Dance partners?

With a sad sigh, he walked out of the room.

_**TDatBW**_

"So she didn't show?" Hermione asked Hannah.

It wasn't someone she had thought she would befriend, but with her being Ron's girlfriend, Hannah spent a lot of time around, and truth be told, it felt _nice_ to not be the sole girl in the group.

"From what Ron said, no." Hannah said, sighing as she made herself comfortable on the Gryffindor seats in the Great Hall.

Ron had stopped and told her what happened after Ginny tracked Ron to talk with Harry,

It did not seem good.

"I'm sure something must have held her up, I mean, she's a little awkward, but she seems to really like Harry." Hermione said, shrugging.

Hannah nodded as she served herself some of the sandwiches that were available during the lunch hours of the Great Hall.

"From the couple of times I met her, she seemed just as bad as Harry, if we're being honest." Hannah said with a smile.

Hermione grinned and began to describe some of her favorite moments with the two maladjusted friends.

As they talked, even as quiet about the whole situation as they were, they didn't notice someone who had heard enough to know who Harry Potter's mystery date was.

She stood still, mostly in surprise, listening to Hermione and Hannah talk, feeling her heart sink at each different moment of their hidden relationship. She listened more and more, somehow invisible to the two girls who giggled at the antics of Harry and Tracey Davis.

Tracey Davis.

That's the face of the girl who-

"Hey Gin, you okay?" Ron asked as he came to sit with Hannah and Hermione.

The girl squeaked and nodded before half running away.

Hermione and Hannah looked at each other with small gasps.

"You two okay? I wonder what's up with Ginny. She was just standing by you looking sick." Ron said, taking a sandwich from the table for himself.

Ron took a couple of bites and looked up, seeing the girls freeze up. He took a couple of seconds to chew and swallow his food.

"Yeah, that's the look." He said. He eyed them for a moment before he looked at Hannah's plate, then dubiously at his own sandwich.

"Fred and George didn't fill these with anything weird again, did they?" He asked, carefully checking his food.

"Ron." Hermione said, slowly realizing her slip up.

"Hm?" He grunted, having taken a cautious bite of sandwich.

"I think Ginny heard Hannah and I talk about Harry and Tracey." She said, just loud enough that no other person would hear.

The response was Ron choking on his sandwich for a minute, Hannah helping him slowly catch his breath.

"Blimey, I was worried I'd be the one to drop the ball on accident, but what's the plan?" Ron asked, looking at the worried messy hair pile that was Hermione.

Hermione glared at Ron but he was right.

Which never happened.

"I think we should talk to Ginny, make sure she's okay." Hannah said.

Ron and Hermione turned to her, the unspoken question in both of their expressions.

"Well, Ginny had a _very_ well known crush on Harry, didn't she?" She asked, receiving two nods.

"Well, with everyone telling her to "get over it" and knowing how her long-time crush is seeing someone else, it's a lot for a girl to take, especially if it's someone she would have considered an enemy, since Tracey's a Slytherin." Hannah said.

Ron swore.

"With all of the time around her, I forgot she was a "slimy snake" and all that." Ron said, his sandwich forgotten as he got up. "Come on, we're gonna do the one thing no one has ever been able to do."

"Which is what?" Hermione asked as she and Hannah got up.

"Say no to my baby sister." Ron said as he led them after Ginny.

_**TDatBW**_

"So, I don't know what to do." Tracey said as though she ended a long monolog, looking at the one person she never thought she would turn to for relationship advice.

"Miss Davis," Snape said, eyeing her with his usual disdain, "Not only do I have no idea what you're talking about, you came in, stared at me with four different expressions and said "I don't know what to do.""

Tracey blinked.

"The one time I try to actually speak up and I internalize it all." She sighed.

With a small breath, she began explaining the situation, ignoring every protest and demand she stop.

"Miss Davis, is this retribution for the "Talk" we had?" Snape asked, a hand to his face in frustration.

"What? No, this is to know if I'm about to screw things up with the first person who's shown any real kindness to me since I've been here." Tracey said bluntly.

Snape looked at her, his dark eyes void of any emotion.

"Leave." He said, leaning back in his chair and turning away.

"Professor, please," Tracey tried, "I have literally no one else I can speak with about this."

"Does Potter not have friends?" Snape asked, the sneer seen through his head.

"Yeah, _his_ friends. They're probably mad at me too." Tracey groaned, her head making a rattling thud as she let it drop on Snape's desk.

Snape sighed.

He knew he was Head of Slytherin, but dealing with dunderheads and their relationship drama?

Ugh.

"Miss Davis, please, go away." He said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

But he was wrong.

"But…" Tracey tried, "surely you remember your time here! You didn't have someone you wanted to be with and feared you'd muck it up?"

Huh.

Thirteen years as a teacher, hoping some student would ask this exact question and it happened to be Potter's girlfriend.

He looked up at the ceiling, smiling and winked.

_Thank you, dear Magick itself_, Snape mouthed before turning around to look Davis in the eye, his expression severe.

"Let me tell you what _**my**_ experience here was, Miss Davis." He began in a cold voice.

Tracey gulped.

Maybe this hadn't been a good idea.

_**TDatBW**_

"Luna? What're yeh doin' here?"

Luna Lovegood looked up from her book at the Gamekeeper, Hagrid, his mammoth size blocking the little light Luna was using to read said book.

"I'm waiting, Mr. Hagrid." She said, smiling brightly.

"Waiting fer what?" Hagrid asked, looking around a bit.

"I overheard some girls from Ravenclaw saying a boy was looking for me, so I've been sitting here waiting." Luna said.

Hagrid sighed quietly, but to Luna, it was quite a breeze.

_He has nice breath, _Luna decided.

"Well, I get yer waiting, but lookit the time. 'Salmost dark. How's a boy s'posed ter find yeh in the dark?" Hagrid asked, hoping he could get Luna to go inside.

He didn't like how often the girl was tricked to stand out in the dark. Pranks were fine and all, but this was just mean.

"You're right!" Luna said, sitting up quickly. "Maybe he would be looking for me in a more public area. I did think something too private would be weird if he hasn't told me he's looking for me, but I was so excited!"

"Excited fer what?" Hagrid asked, a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Well, if a boy is looking for me, at this time of the year, with everything happening, I'm about to get asked to the Yule Ball." Luna explained, her smile wide and brilliant, breaking Hagrid's heart just a little.

"Well, yeh won't know until a boy asks, righ'?" Hagrid said.

"But what else could it be?" Luna said with bright eyes. "As soon as I heard, I sent an owl to Daddy. He's going to be sending me a dress I got just for this occasion. I just didn't think anyone would ask."

Hagrid looked at the girl.

Even with all the mean things her schoolmates did, she kept her head up and her attitude positive.

He really wished someone would ask her.

"Well, Luna, hopefully this boy comes forward. Be a shame if he didn' get the guts ter say somethin'." Hagrid said.

Luna gasped.

"You're right, Mr. Hagrid. I'll find Marietta and Cho, if they heard that a boy was looking for me, they would know who!" Luna said, gathering her things and walking quickly away, waving to Hagrid as the man tried to get her to stop.

"Poor girl, that one." The half-giant said with a shake of his head.

Luna made her way towards the Ravenclaw tower with a spring in her step.

Sure, she had Harry as a potential love interest and had a romantic rival, but if she could get her own date, then maybe she could befriend Tracey rather than be rivals.

She didn't know what she should do with a rival, and being mean didn't sit too well with her.

She hummed a happy tune, skipping merrily until she saw a familiar head of copper hair a couple of corridor intersections down.

"Marietta!" Luna called, skipping to the corner to where the older girl had walked past. She walked forward, seeing several doors in the corridor.

"-and she bought it!" A voice said, inciting a round of rather mean sounding laughs.

Luna stopped and walked ahead quietly, listening.

While eavesdropping was bad, that laughter did not sound pleasant and hoped someone wasn't in trouble.

Even Hogwarts had bullies.

"So the little bint just sat there?" Another voice came, a boy this time.

"Yeah!" A more familiar voice said. "She came up and I made up the story of some boy, and that loon was over the moon.

Another round of laughs, but this time, her heart was in her throat.

Maybe she was just assuming things, like Mr. Hagrid had said. They were talking about someone else. She got slightly closer to the door to the unused room that was opened.

"I mean, I feel a bit bad about it, but it was definitely funny." Another familiar voice said.

"Cho, you are an evil genius, so don't feel bad." The other voice, definitely Marietta, said.

"I wonder what Looney'll do once she realizes that there is no "mystery boy"." One of the boys in the room said with a cackle.

"I just wonder how long she'll actually sit out there." Marietta's voice came.

Whatever else was going to be said died on Cho's throat as she heard a whimpering sob.

The rest of the room had gone painfully quiet.

"Damn." One of the boys said quietly, but with the silence, he may as well have shouted.

Cho gulped and got up, taking a reluctant step to the door. The sobbing sound became louder with each step, and her unwillingness to open the door increased. With a deep breath, she pulled the door open slightly more. Seeing nothing, she sighed.

She opened it all the way, taking a step out and seeing the dirty-blonde girl sitting next to the door, her face in her hands.

"Luna?" Cho asked, catching herself about to call the crying girl Looney.

"I'm sorry." The crying girl hiccupped.

By now, the other occupants of the room had crowded the door.

"Why sorry?" Cho asked, feeling concerned. The joke had seemed funny at the time, but seeing Luna crying?

"I don't _know_." Luna stammered out, not her knees raised. "But you're _always_ so mean to me, I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry."

Cho looked at Marietta, who shook her head.

It was fun picking on her, but clearly, they crossed a line.

"Look, Luna." Cho began, but stopped as the girl snapped to her feet.

"Leave me alone!" Luna cried, running down the hall, leaving the group to stare as the distraught girl ran away from the cruel people.

That's who they were, they realized.

The cruel kids who made others feel awful.

And they walked to Professor Flitwick, not one of them looking forward to explaining this, but knowing that it would not end well.

_**TDatBW**_

"She's a third year with brilliant red hair, there's only like four of us in the bloody castle, why the hell can't we find her?" Ron asked, looking around the Great Hall.

"Ron, it's dinner time. She'll show here or at the Tower, but we've gotta make sure she understands what's happening." Hermione said, also looking around the Hall, checking the doors for entering and leaving students.

"I just can't believe she's that upset over Harry and Tracey." Hannah said, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"_Davis_?" A voice said.

The trio froze and turned, seeing Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown looking at them with bright excitement.

"You say a _word _of what you heard, and I'll kill you myself." Hannah threatened, looking as though she cowed both girls.

She turned back to Ron and Hermione who were staring at her blankly.

"What?" She asked innocently.

Hermione shook her head and turned back to the doors.

Ron's look slowly became a grin.

"You are a treat." He said.

Hannah grinned back and opened her mouth to reply when she saw the girl they were trying to keep quiet about approaching.

A Slytherin on the Gryffindor side of the Great Hall?

She was painfully obvious.

She approached the trio and looked around, biting her lip, ignoring the looks of glee and the hushed words that Brown and Patil shared.

"Have you guys seen Harry?" Tracey asked, not raising her voice.

The shrieks of delight from Parvati and Lavender made half the Great Hall look at the Gryffindors, Tracey now standing out more.

A series of loud whispers and other not too hushed voices spread quickly, and some not too subtle finger pointing soon followed.

"Er…" Ron said, looking sheepishly at the atmosphere of the room. "He'll be here in a bit, he was dropping his bag off. You got a plan?"

Tracey bit her lip and nodded.

"I do. It's a fairly bad plan, but it's what I've got." Tracey said.

"Well, you either pull your bad idea or let the Great Rumor Mill decide your fate. Race against the clock." Hannah said.

Hermione couldn't help but feel concerned. It was her idea to put Harry and Tracey as dates, but this attention and reaction didn't seem like something either of them would like.

"I'm gonna try to meet Harry before he enters the Hall." Tracey said, looking nervously at the Slytherin table.

"Good luck." Hermione said, getting a nod in return.

_**TDatBW**_

This was a bad idea.

Monumentally bad.

Like, almost as bad as asking Snape for dating advice.

But, through his rant about how awful his time as a student had been, he did drop sincere advice between snarls.

"_He's another foolish Gryffindor, all action. You'd have to prove you care." _Snape had said.

Sure, his tone was mocking, but somehow she understood what he meant, and he wondered who the Gryffindor he had liked was.

She sighed and shook her thoughts clear, looking around just in time to notice Harry had walked past her without noticing her in the alcove by the doors.

By now, he was by the doors.

_Confessing in front of the school. Merlin, if he wasn't such a nice guy. _

She quickly ran forward.

"Harry!" She called, louder than expected from her nerves.

Harry stopped and turned, both confused and surprised at her calling to him publicly. He had stopped a couple of steps into the Great Hall, and by now, everyone had stopped what they were doing to see what was happening.

Tracey walked up to him, trying to keep it together with the _whole damned school_ watching them.

Nit knowing what else to do, and without another word, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

Harry took a moment to react before slowly melting into the kiss, his arms finding her waist as they slowly pulled apart.

"Trace?" He asked, not entirely sure what was happening.

"Look," she said, trying to ignore the odd number of eyes on them.

Thanks, Moody.

"I know I've been a _complete_ ass about the whole boyfriend thing and I'm sorry. I've never had a boyfriend before and it's all new and weird, but you're not anything I'm embarrassed by and I wanted you to know I'm glad to have you as my boyfriend." She said, the words carrying in the silent room.

Was everyone holding their breaths?

"If you'll have me, that is." Tracey said, looking slightly away.

A small moment of silence, but from the corner of her eye, she saw a lot of students leaning forward to catch what was happening.

"You know, you're lucky I'm partial to you." Harry said with a lopsided grin.

Tracey smiled back, and with a shyness that hadn't been there earlier, kissed him again softly.

She wasn't sure from where, but someone began clapping, followed by another, then cheering, then the Weasley Twins making extremely vulgar comments, followed by more cheer.

Blushing, Tracey took Harry's hand and dragged them to where his friends were, purposely sitting away from the gossipy girls with the hungry look in their eyes.

Ron was grinning at both of them, Hannah leaning against his shoulder, giggling.

Hermione gave a small smile and made a quick comment about public affection, but grinned at the expected eye rolls.

Tracey looked around, her Slytherin schoolmates looking oddly not murderous, and her then to the teacher's table, where she thought she saw Snape smirk at her, but realized it was at the small bag that Professor McGonagall had handed him with a small smile of her own.

She definitely did not want to know what that was about.

But for now, everything was good, even if just for the evening.

But what the fall out would be, she would see.

_**TDatBW **_

_**Author's notes **_

**It has definitely been a while, I've been painfully busy and sick. I know this chapter was a little grimmer than usual, but we have two chapters left for this fic, and not everyone gets a happy ending, but everyone gets what they deserve. Til the next one!**

_**-Vaine**_


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